Murky? Miller sues over spelling

Republican Joe Miller of Alaska is suing in federal court to prevent the state from counting any write-in ballots in which a candidate's name is not spelled precisely — a move that could undermine incumbent Lisa Murkowski.

The lawsuit, which Miller's camp filed Tuesday, came just as officials were set to begin counting Alaska's write-in ballots, and with Miller trailing write-ins in the initial returns, including thousands of absentee votes.

Story Continued Below

Murkowski, who lost to Miller in the GOP primary, launched a write-in campaign that put her into a tight battle with Miller. Miller's suit , first reported by The Associated Press, could throw a wrench in the hotly contested and tedious counting process.

Miller's lawyer said the campaign is hoping to get a hearing as soon as Wednesday afternoon.

Alaska's election law states that write-in ballots must be marked with a filled-in oval and with the desired candidate's last name or the name as it appears on the declaration of candidacy. But as election officials deliberated how to move forward when Murkowski announced her independent bid to become Alaska's first successful statewide write-in candidate, they said they would use "discretion," as well as work with a state attorney, to determine how to count votes that might misspell Murkowski's name.

If a court were to rule in favor of Miller, it would likely cut into Murkowski's presumed lead.

More than 85,000 write-in votes were cast in last week's election, but Murkowski was only one among approximately 150 write-in candidates in the race. As of the most recent vote counts Tuesday, write-ins held a 5.5 point advantage over Miller, with absentee and early votes from Juneau, Nome and Fairbanks left to be counted.